Yes the frame rate drops never bother the gameplay. It's much better than Perfect Dark frame rate for instance
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What was the N64 game with the overall best graphics?
- Thread starter Alex_Mexico
- Start date
Yes the frame rate drops never bother the gameplay. It's much better than Perfect Dark frame rate for instance
Really? I love JFG visuals. It's better of BK in every single aspect but the frame rate. The draw distance when you are in the upside of the biggest zone of Sekhmet never stop to amaze me.
When I used to play the game in rude shooter style I had many problems with the frame rate. I beaten the game again last year, using a methodical hide&shot strategy, and I rarely met frame rate issues.
But about the frame rate is very subjective, in fact I am not bothered by the Perfect Dark slowdowns too, while I read about people who call it "unplayable".
By the way if you, like me, love BK graphics, you'll appreciate these IGN opinions about BK visuals, when it won the best 1998 N64 graphic award.:
Many Nintendo 64 games were contenders for this title, but we feel that Rare's outstanding Banjo-Kazooie best exemplifies just how gorgeous 3D games, when designed cleverly, can be. The 3D platformer does not run in high-resolution mode like Acclaim's Turok 2, and yet it still looks nearly just as crisp and certainly more rich. Utilizing clever texture-overlaying techniques, Rare has made the best of Nintendo's miniscule texture cache with impressive results. Environments blend together seamlessly and with bright, beautiful colors that perfectly illustrate the impressively detailed worlds of Banjo-Kazooie. Framerates are generally smooth and fogging is only used for effect in certain areas. Furthermore, the game's characters, though off-the-wall in design, are so lovingly constructed, highly detailed and smartly textured that they effortlessly spring to life when placed in Rare's exceptional 3D worlds. This game sets a new graphic standard. Runners up include the amazing worlds of Hyrule in Zelda, Factor 5/LucasArts' Rogue Squadron and Iguana's Turok 2.
http://m.ign.com/articles/1999/02/06/best-graphics-of-1998
Certain areas ran @ 480i. Since they are completely static backgrounds, they are essentially indistinguishable from 480p in detail.
I always remember JFG being a framerate clusterfuck, but for an N64 game it had a very big sense of scale in both the levels and the music.
Rare could make that N64 processor put out some awesome sound.
SS Anubis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzqEIdUsiak
Player Select
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJMkswOHUjY
Goldwood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tau0S5X9TdY
Rare could make that N64 processor put out some awesome sound.
SS Anubis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzqEIdUsiak
Player Select
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJMkswOHUjY
Goldwood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tau0S5X9TdY
I've never actually played the game, but that soundtrack really was ridiculous for the N64. Eschebone and SS Anubis in particular sounded far more naturalistic than they had any right to. Given how performance-intensive sequenced music apparently could be for the console, I wonder how much of the performance issues it contributed to.
Resident Evil 2 was an impossible port.
No, it isn't. Not sure exactly which, might be the Dreamcast version. But Leon on N64 definitely does not look like that. The textures on N64 are smaller, blurrier/less detailed and warped on character models compared to the PS1 original and other versions.
Funny enough I have the Dreamcast version. Here's a screenshot of took of it over a year ago.
Yep, it looks that clean.
It wasn't so much the porting that made games like that exclusive to ps1, it was the cost of added ram size to the cartridges to accommodate for the background images as well as FMVs. It's a big reason why the video quality is so low in the n64 version of the game, they cut corners wherever possible to reduce the cost of producing the game.Resident Evil 2 was an impossible port.
Jonneh3003
Banned
Sorry I was struggling to find a decent non emulated N64 shot, it's more that RE2 exists on N64 than anything else. A game that spanned 2 cds on PS1 was crammed in to a 64mb cartridge with few sacrifices. It's my favourite port of all time.
I don't know why RE2 s***s so much, much more than completely 3D games, when it's captured from the original hardware.
When I play it on CRT and when I watch it on YouTube (or web screenshots), it seems another game.
In the screenshots the Mega posted, it looks much better than any YouTube video or screenshot I ever seen on the web.
By the way, if you want to have some good laughs, take a look to this video:
https://youtu.be/bmViSPAxLpM
The video is made by "Lens of Truth", and it shows everything but the truth. Both PS1 and N64 versions are much better on CRT. I personally compared the video with the N64 version and in the video is noticeable much dark and much blurry.
What's the sense to make comparison of a game like that using not adequate technologies? I swear, in the video some details aren't visible at all, while in the CRT them are pretty clear.
I can understand a comparison of completely 3D games on YT. In that case you can, at least, compare the draw distance, spot frame rate issues, see which use more polys, if something is been cutted in order to stress less the hardware, etc.
By the way, yes JFG sounds are impressive.
Other N64 games with impressive sound quality are:
CBFD
Rogue Squadron
Battle for Naboo
Perfect Dark
When I play it on CRT and when I watch it on YouTube (or web screenshots), it seems another game.
In the screenshots the Mega posted, it looks much better than any YouTube video or screenshot I ever seen on the web.
By the way, if you want to have some good laughs, take a look to this video:
https://youtu.be/bmViSPAxLpM
The video is made by "Lens of Truth", and it shows everything but the truth. Both PS1 and N64 versions are much better on CRT. I personally compared the video with the N64 version and in the video is noticeable much dark and much blurry.
What's the sense to make comparison of a game like that using not adequate technologies? I swear, in the video some details aren't visible at all, while in the CRT them are pretty clear.
I can understand a comparison of completely 3D games on YT. In that case you can, at least, compare the draw distance, spot frame rate issues, see which use more polys, if something is been cutted in order to stress less the hardware, etc.
By the way, yes JFG sounds are impressive.
Other N64 games with impressive sound quality are:
CBFD
Rogue Squadron
Battle for Naboo
Perfect Dark
Maybe because they had issues capturing it. As for screens, maybe there aren't any 480i screens or the game wasn't captured in 240p properly. I mean, look at my Dreamcast RE2 shot, it actually looks that clean.
Cow Mengde
Banned
I wonder if the N64 can pull off Cop The Recruit on the DS? Cop is an open world DS game that runs at 60fps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmjl-piy25Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmjl-piy25Y
N64 can't move all that stuff at 60fps (choose another link, in that video the frame rate is pretty bad, in the original version is smooth as oil).
What the fuck are you talking about?
Cow Mengde
Banned
Yeah, that's running on emulator. It should get the point across.
Timu may be right that this person had problems video capturing the game. It's a popular video that I've seen dredged up around the web in comparisons of RE2 on PS1 and N64. Problem is that it's incredibly dark and muddy, a lot more than any version of the game. I'm not versed on video capture but there's also a ton of deinterlacing artefacts in both (especially the PS1 game). Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems strange for an entirely 240p game (PS1). On N64, it's 240p with jumper pack and a mix of mostly 480i and some 240p scenes with the expansion pack.
Here's a scene of the shop owner pointing his gun. Keep in mind:
1. my picture is actually a little darker than what I was seeing IRL but didn't wanna shoot it brighter to avoid blown highlights.
2. The PS1 version is significantly brighter than the N64 port.
Same scene from the comparison video, very dark, muted and unnecessary washed out detail. Direct capture should be showing more detail than my off-screen photo.
They made a very poor work, the difference between both versions on CRT and on that video is embarrassing.
For istance, RE2 is much better captured here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzdyVuYqKuE (watch it on 720p). While even in this video the quality is worse than CRT.
For istance, RE2 is much better captured here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzdyVuYqKuE (watch it on 720p). While even in this video the quality is worse than CRT.
That means the capture card that is used is doing something wrong as it's probably captured in an interlaced format for even the PS1 version. I know about those capture cards that do that and should be forbidden when capturing in that res for a 240p game, scan doubling is preferred because it doesn't go interlaced, it doubles the 240p res but don't upscale entirely either. I'm guessing it was captured in 480i because if it was captured in 240p it would not have deinterlacing artifacts, I would know as I used one of those capture cards in the past. It was a USB 2.0 one, and that is obviously what the person is using as well for that vid. So yeah, the capture of that vid is wrong as 240p games should not have deinterlacing if captured right.
And I would know as I capture a ton of 240p games!
That video quality is due to the low bit rate, a higher one would add more clarity. Also that aspect ratio is too wide, I capture 240p games and they never looked that wide as they have wider black bars than that. It also looks weird, like one side has more black than the other as the game picture is wider than it has to be.
Thanks for the info!
Here's some impressive Vigilante 8 screenshos from the original hardware, Ultra Resolution Mode
Edit: links don't work
Your hosting site is banned. Try hosting on imgur or something.
Timu may be right that this person had problems video capturing the game. It's a popular video that I've seen dredged up around the web in comparisons of RE2 on PS1 and N64. Problem is that it's incredibly dark and muddy, a lot more than any version of the game. I'm not versed on video capture but there's also a ton of deinterlacing artefacts in both (especially the PS1 game). Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems strange for an entirely 240p game (PS1). On N64, it's 240p with jumper pack and a mix of mostly 480i and some 240p scenes with the expansion pack.
Here's a scene of the shop owner pointing his gun. Keep in mind:
1. my picture is actually a little darker than what I was seeing IRL but didn't wanna shoot it brighter to avoid blown highlights.
2. The PS1 version is significantly brighter than the N64 port.
Same scene from the comparison video, very dark, muted and unnecessary washed out detail. Direct capture should be showing more detail than my off-screen photo.
It seemed that he was complaining about all YT vids. I see now that was remarking on specific videos. However, one shouldn't expect quality game captures on random YT videos in general. There are very few exceptions of course, but complaining about YT quality in this regard is like complaining that water is wet. lol Plus, he did previously seem to bring this up as a point about CRT superiority which is a very bad point for the reason I just stated.
True, YouTube bitrates are (were?) just embarrassing. When (sub-)720p console version vs 1080p PC version comparisons were a big thing, I'd have a hard time seeing a major difference because YouTube would make any upload mushy. I do still think that something else besides YouTube crap is happening in that PS1/N64 video... as Timu mentioned, even the aspect ratios are wrong and native res wasn't captured correctly. I wouldn't have commented on a random video except that this specific one has come up as some sort of shining example in online discussions about the various iterations of RE2.
Re "the right display," I agree that definitive blanket statements about CRT vs upscaling/HDTV are not helpful... happens once in a while in the Upscalers, CRT, RGB thread. It's a matter of personal preference foremost, followed by evaluating games on a system by system and title by title basis. I've said my part about what I personally think works best for most N64 titles, but that's not meant as a declarative statement directed at all who prefer playing their games some other way. I have a 480p CRT but I played my last few Wii games on the plasma HDTV... and I go back and forth between Ultra HDMI 64 on that TV and stock S-video on the CRT. It's fun to mix it up
Re "the right display," I agree that definitive blanket statements about CRT vs upscaling/HDTV are not helpful... happens once in a while in the Upscalers, CRT, RGB thread. It's a matter of personal preference foremost, followed by evaluating games on a system by system and title by title basis. I've said my part about what I personally think works best for most N64 titles, but that's not meant as a declarative statement directed at all who prefer playing their games some other way. I have a 480p CRT but I played my last few Wii games on the plasma HDTV... and I go back and forth between Ultra HDMI 64 on that TV and stock S-video on the CRT. It's fun to mix it up
Youtube goes by res for bit rate, the higher the res, the higher the bit rate which makes them look even better. On research I found out that 720p is completely useless for anything about games, even 2D games. 1080p is better but only for 2D games, 3D games still don't look that great due to the bit rate. 1440p is nearly perfect for 2D games and does make 3D games look better as it's decent now. But 4k res makes 2D games look perfectly and actually makes 3D games look good to great even due to using a really high bit rate compared to the other res.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
One thing that really sucks in particular when it comes to SD game footage on Youtube is that Youtube only allows 60fps for 720p or higher, so you have to upscale everything before you upload.
I'm aware of that. However there are still some limitations. I believe YT converts everything to 4:2:2 color space and 24 bit depth for obvious reasons. So no matter how "pure" a few certain of your original captures are, YT still fucks with them. It's gotten much better over the years, but I doubt they'll ever bother with those details.
And like I said earlier your effort to ensure the highest possible quality in your captures is an exception where most you tubers couldn't care less about the details. BTW, I'm glad you do.
True, YouTube bitrates are (were?) just embarrassing. When (sub-)720p console version vs 1080p PC version comparisons were a big thing, I'd have a hard time seeing a major difference because YouTube would make any upload mushy. I do still think that something else besides YouTube crap is happening in that PS1/N64 video... as Timu mentioned, even the aspect ratios are wrong and native res wasn't captured correctly. I wouldn't have commented on a random video except that this specific one has come up as some sort of shining example in online discussions about the various iterations of RE2.
Re "the right display," I agree that definitive blanket statements about CRT vs upscaling/HDTV are not helpful... happens once in a while in the Upscalers, CRT, RGB thread. It's a matter of personal preference foremost, followed by evaluating games on a system by system and title by title basis. I've said my part about what I personally think works best for most N64 titles, but that's not meant as a declarative statement directed at all who prefer playing their games some other way. I have a 480p CRT but I played my last few Wii games on the plasma HDTV... and I go back and forth between Ultra HDMI 64 on that TV and stock S-video on the CRT. It's fun to mix it up
Yeah, I include the issue with bad capture practices in random YT game vids.
Completely misunderstood what I wrote. Usually in these case I think it's due my language barrier. But I let read what I wrote to an English friend of mine and he understood perfectly what was my point (he's not even a gamer).
Yep, I intend to try to do my best for youtube, and it's going to get better now as I pretty much upload nearly everything in 4k now.I'm aware of that. However there are still some limitations. I believe YT converts everything to 4:2:2 color space and 24 bit depth for obvious reasons. So no matter how "pure" a few certain of your original captures are, YT still fucks with them. It's gotten much better over the years, but I doubt they'll ever bother with those details.
And like I said earlier your effort to ensure the highest possible quality in your captures is an exception where most you tubers couldn't care less about the details. BTW, I'm glad you do.
If you want the best quality on youtube, yes, since youtube destroys anything under 1080p.
I managed to capture a nice quality video of World Driver Championship. The quality is not perfect, there is flickering and it lacks of colours, definition and details, but it's better than the other WDC videos you can find on the Web. Just be sure to watch it on 1080p.
https://youtu.be/TtPEsa2jHg4
WDC graphics is not only the best in racing games of the entire generation, but it's also superb in terms of variety and design. Watch the variety of the vegetation, all the buildings are different, tons of details. And all is very suggestive. Watch this video until the end, you'll love it.
https://youtu.be/TtPEsa2jHg4
WDC graphics is not only the best in racing games of the entire generation, but it's also superb in terms of variety and design. Watch the variety of the vegetation, all the buildings are different, tons of details. And all is very suggestive. Watch this video until the end, you'll love it.
Bumping this thread to say I've just started playing Paper Mario on the Wii U VC for the first time.
How was that not a top-tier contender here? This game is gorgeous. I'd seen still images of it and played later Paper Mario titles, but the original is just fantastic-looking to the point it's hard for me to believe it's an N64 game.
Sure that's 100% due to the aesthetic, but aesthetic is a part of graphics.
How was that not a top-tier contender here? This game is gorgeous. I'd seen still images of it and played later Paper Mario titles, but the original is just fantastic-looking to the point it's hard for me to believe it's an N64 game.
Sure that's 100% due to the aesthetic, but aesthetic is a part of graphics.
Cow Mengde
Banned
For some reason, all the screenshots I see of Paper Mario makes the characters look darker than normal. I beat the game multiple times on my TV and I don't recall the characters being darker than the backgrounds.
That motion reduction is really trippy.
It was well known even back then for not having "the N64 look"
Maybe it's because I'm using the Gamepad's small screen right now, but I really have to go out of my way to see any aliasing. I mean, sure, there's SOME aliasing, but it's almost unnoticeable unless you're specifically looking at it.
Pokemaniac
Member
While I'm not 100% sure what resolution Paper Mario originally rendered at, N64 games on Wii U VC typically render at a higher resolution than on the original hardware.
240p.
I read a lot of "N64 best graphics" topics. It's curious that Paper Mario is so often named. I think that it's should be named in a "best good looking" thread, not graphics. It's not even a top 30 graphical achievement in N64 library.
There is nothing impressive by a technical standpoint. Due that style the hardware is never pushed, the animations are very simplistic, you don't see particular effects. It's just a very nice combination of style between 2 and 3D elements. It's aged very good and it's still fantastic to play. I beaten it last year and it's still great, I love the subquests, the soundtrack, all the nice ideas implemented, the varied and wonderful worlds, etc. The only complaint is that it's never really challenging (but not even too easy by the way).
There is nothing impressive by a technical standpoint. Due that style the hardware is never pushed, the animations are very simplistic, you don't see particular effects. It's just a very nice combination of style between 2 and 3D elements. It's aged very good and it's still fantastic to play. I beaten it last year and it's still great, I love the subquests, the soundtrack, all the nice ideas implemented, the varied and wonderful worlds, etc. The only complaint is that it's never really challenging (but not even too easy by the way).
came to say this.
I played Mario 64 the other day and it didn't feel "dated", like other games on the system.
it simple, it's pretty and it just works.
and the most impressive thing about it, is that the game size is about 8 Mb, as far as I recall.
Are we talking emulated screen shots or actual games running on the hardware? As some games look so different via emulation with their clean lines and spruced up image that even some of the muddiest foggiest games look great via emulation.
World Driver Championship is pretty cool on the hardware.
World Driver Championship is pretty cool on the hardware.
MrCunningham
Member
Here is a texture rip I did for both the N64 and PS models of Claire and Leon a while back:
Textures for zombie models are much lower resolution as well, and are also less varied in the N64 game. The background images range from comparable to the pS1 game to lower resolution. The N64 game is missing a few FMV cutscenes ad the cutscenes that are there are heavily compressed. Don't get me wrong, RE2 on the N64 is still an impressive port. But sacrifices were made to get as much of it onto a 64MB cartridge as possible. Very little did get cut in the end.
I never been impressed by that port. The only thing which was impressive was the blurry FMVs. The rest of the game is nothing for the N64 hardware.
I'm playing Perfect Dark in these days, so thinking about RE2 from a technical standpoint is probably not kind for the Capcom game
It's incredible how big PD is, how large the levels are, how stunning the graphic is, hours of dubbed speeches, tons of options and game modalities, weapons, characters, gadgets and tons of other things. The game is probably ten times bigger than RE2 and the cart is smaller.
That's an impressive achievement. I play it since 2000 and I'm still discovering new stuff of the game.
MrCunningham
Member
Angel Studios used some fairly impressive compression algorithms to cram two discs worth of data into a 64MB cartridge. They really didn't have much room to work with, especially with Factor 5's sound driver, MIDI audio files and voice samples. Resident Evil 2 is still a fairly large game when to take into account the Leon and Claire campaigns as well as both second survivor modes.
Sure you could say that Perfect Dark is a bigger game, but there is a difference when working with fully polygonal environments compared to a game that is entirely comprised of 2D backdrops. You can cut corners with textures and materials in PD, but for RE2, all of the static backgrounds need to be there.
It is also interesting how they claimed that the FMV's could've looked so much better if they had another MB worth of data to work with.
I know, I read tons of interviews and I personally chatted with a Factor 5 member. But I mean: the work was impressive for what they did, not for what we seen and heard. Is not even a top 50 N64 graphics and there are better sound qualities (and quantity) on the software library.
Don't let me wrong, it's a great game,but it's visually pretty unimpressive for N64.
Conker's Bad Fur Day shows how to use much better a 512 Mbit cart